AN: Hello people of the internet! Hope y'all are doing good. See you at the bottom.
It was two weeks after James had returned. He was on his nightly rounds with Lily. They were on the ground floor, just around the corner from the Entrance Hall, when Lily stopped in her tracks.
"Let's go to the grounds," she said, turning to James.
"It's cold outside, Lily! I'd freeze my balls off!" James stated, honestly quite horrified with the prospect of braving the snow.
"Well, we can't have that, can we?" she responded with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Come on, James! It's beautiful out," she pouted.
"Oh, alright!" he sighed. They walked the rest of the way to the big, oak doors. James pushed them open just a little bit; enough for them to slip through. The snow had settled in a carpet as far as the eye could see. It glimmered slightly in the pale moon light. It was a crescent moon. Just a handful of days before they'd be meting Remus in the Shrieking Shack.
As Professor Dumbledore had decided, Madam Pomfrey would accompany Remus to the Whomping Willow, after which he'd make his journey to the dilapidated house alone. No one outside of the four of them knew about their arrangement. Or that's what they liked to believe. James was positive the Headmaster was very much aware of his students... abilities.
James was thrown out of his reverie when a snowball made contact with the back of his head, sending his glasses askew. He whirled around to see Lily, smiling widely at him, looking like an utterly delighted five year old. He really liked it when Lily was at ease with him. Since the beginning of their seventh year, Lily's cold facade had been slipping away and James had never found her more intriguing. She was fierce. James loved seeing her laugh and smile but nothing was hotter than an angry Lily Evans. God, she was looked like a goddess about to smite you when she was pissed off.
James ran over to her, tackling her to the ground. She laughed under him, snow getting caught in her hair as he leaned down to capture her lips in his. He rolled off of her and lay back on the snow not even caring that his winter robes were getting damp. He felt Lily lace her fingers with his, and they looked into the January night. Peace had just about set in when the red head jumped up.
"I want to climb that tree!" she announced as she started running toward the leafless figure. The tree was skeletal, begging for another chance at life. James stopped a few feet behind his girlfriend, watching her struggle to climb. She kept slipping on the bark which was slick with ice.
"James, be a dear and help me up," came her voice. Before he could stop himself, he felt himself move onto all fours and was prodding Lily's bottom with his nose, trying to avoid poking her with his antlers. He heard her let out a surprised 'Oh!' as she hoisted herself up onto a branch. She stared at him disbelievingly while he morphed back into human form and climbed up after her.
She was still gawking at him when he settled himself down next to her.
"Wha..." she whispered.
"Well, you told me to be a deer," he tried to explain, trying not to laugh at his own joke.
"You can..." she cleared her throat. "You're an animagus?"
"Yeah," James answered, scratching the back of his head. He pushed his glasses up, feeling scrutinised under her gaze.
"WHAT?" Lily shrieked, recovering from her shock quickly. "And you never told me?"
"I thought you knew," he offered, albeit in vain.
"How was I supposed to know something like that? You obviously get rid of the fur very well." At least she was running away.
"You know about Moony so I just assumed you'd know," he explained. "Hey, it's not my fault know-it-all Evans didn't know. You're slipping," he nudged her jokingly.
"I knew you guys helped him out, I just assumed you kept an eye on him from a distance. I didn't realise you actually pranced around with him all over the castle!" she cried, ignoring his comment.
"We do not prance, thank you very much," James said feeling rather indignant.
"And when did you start doing this?"
"Fifth year. That's when we perfected it."
"We?Who's we?"
"Sirius turns into a dog, I turn into a stag and Peter turns into a rat." He went on to explain why they'd chosen their animals: two large enough to handle a werewolf, and one small enough to slip between the branches of the Willow and press the knot at it's base, immobilising it so that they could pass through.
"That's amazing," she whispered, sounding awed. "No wizard has achieved that at such a young age."
"What can I tell you? I'm gifted," he smirked, ruffling his hair. Lily still looked a little dazed but he'd managed to impress her and impressing Ms Evans was no easy task. It did take James seven years.
"Do it again," Lily demanded and James was all too happy to oblige. He hopped off the tree and concentrated hard. He walked closer to Lily and nuzzled her foot. He changed back and watched her admiring expression with amusement.
"I have to admit: you look cuter that way," she said with a straight face, dodging the arm James was swatting at her. "I finally understand your Marauder names." She paused, looking thoughtfully at him. "You know? I remember seeing a stag in the grounds from my dorm window back in fifth year. But it was only for a second, and I was so far away. That was you..."
AN: Hey guys! I hope that was alright. I wanted Lily to know about James' super powers so I thought I'd add this in. This also builds their relationship: they love each other but it's not sickeningly sweet. They're still the same people, just better versions of themselves.
Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you though either in a review or via PM.
Take care of yourselves.
xx
Hunting Horcruxes.
